Policy & Guideline Analysis

The current situation

Voluntary health organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society design guidelines that affect millions of people. Before recommending new guidelines, these organizations need a way to evaluate the impact of the options they face, including the magnitude of the benefits, harms, and costs. Because of the complexity and costs involved, it is not feasible to obtain this information through clinical trials or other empirical methods.

The Archimedes advantage

The Archimedes Model is a large-scale, carefully validated simulation model that enables organizations to test their assumptions, compare scenarios, and quantify the outcomes of new guidelines before implementing them. The Model delivers two key advantages:

• Archimedes spans multiple conditions in a single integrated model that uses a consistent methodology. As such, the Model enables comparisons across conditions and interventions, which is crucial for prioritizing the allocation of healthcare resources.
• Archimedes is clinically realistic, written at the level of detail at which policies such as guidelines, performance measures, care management programs, and incentive programs are written.